Abstract

Research indicates that attendance at lectures and tutorials is associated with university students’ level of success and satisfaction, and pre-service teachers’ relatively low levels of attendance at scheduled classes is of significant concern to many lecturers. However, little research has been undertaken to investigate the factors associated with absenteeism among pre-service teachers. This study investigates rates of absenteeism among different groups of pre-service teachers in a large School of Education in a Western Australian university and considers pre-service teachers’ self-reported reasons for being absent from lectures and tutorials. The results show that levels of attendance and reasons for absence at lectures vary according to demographic factors such as age, paid employment, entry pathway, course, mode of study and year level of study. Level of attendance at tutorials is affected by the same factors, except that the year of study (first, second, third or fourth) does not appear to be an influence. The relationships between attendance and achievement are also interrogated.